


Broken Together

by kirschtrash



Series: Musical Musings [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Canon Era, Comfort/Angst, Expect tears, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Marriage, One Shot, One True Pairing, Post-Canon, Romantic Fluff, but happy tears, but hella angst too, canonverse, enjoy this piece!, hella fluff, idk how to tag this, mentions of dead relatives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 11:19:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5125550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirschtrash/pseuds/kirschtrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Edward promises a life committed to his wife, Winry, he'll do whatever he can to make her smile, to make her feel happy, and loved; moreover, he'd try making their new beginning count.</p><p>He promised, after all; and Edward's a man of his word.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Together

**Author's Note:**

> EXCUSE THE SHITTY SUMMARY OK THIS FIC AINT THAT BAD
> 
> sooo this is my first ever edwin oneshot, and hopefully not my last! enjoy! <3
> 
> Follow my [twitter](https://twitter.com/kirschtrash) and [tumblr](http://captaink-irschtein.tumblr.com/) for more~

_"You wore the veil,_  
_You walked the aisle,_  
_You took my hand;_

_And we dove into a mystery."_

_-[inspired by this song](http://musicjustfor.me/assets/songs/91000-91999/91786-broken-together-casting-crowns--1411590876.mp3?dl=1)_

* * *

 

 

**_Broken Together_ **

 

_Clangs of bottles against each other; the crackling of a huge, hearty fire; the scent of burnt wood, sweat, and the fruity liquor everyone drank; the constant din of people’s chatter, laughter and singing…_

Edward could definitely get used to that.

He had no right to complain, either; it was all in celebration for their marriage; _his_ marriage, with the one he loved - _Winry_.

The thought still brought chills up his neck, those familiar chills he’d get whenever he’d consider the prospect back in his adolescent days. Back then, those thoughts were nothing but childish fantasies; “ _what if_ ”s, and “ _maybe_ ”s, he’d call them. Those were mere ideas of a boy who liked to dream, amidst all the chaos he and his brother had to go through. Those chills weren’t something he could understand, shaking them off as soon as he’d get them. ‘ _That couldn’t possibly happen_ ’, he remembered telling himself once.

Who knew it would someday turn into reality?

“Brother!” he heard someone call.

He turned around, to see Alphonse waving at him.

“Come sit by me,” he urged, patting the empty place beside himself, on the log he sat on. Shrugging, Edward made his way to his younger brother, dodging dancing couples, and nodding back at the ones who congratulated him.

It had been a nervous day for Edward. When he had woken up, those wretched nerves seized him, and stuck to him like a leech, refusing to let go; they stayed when he got ready in his neat suit-and-tie, they nearly drained out all of his energy when he reached the plain where they’d hold their ceremony, and they threatened to send his brain into a nervous fit when he waited oh so _patiently_ at the end of the aisle, next to the priest. His palms had sweat so much he had forgotten the number of times he had to wipe them against his pants.

His brain _frizzled_ when he saw Winry.

God, she had looked… Calling her _beautiful_ would have been an understatement; her hair was woven up in a neat, simple bun, and her body clad in an even simpler dress, white as milk. The bodice, decorated marvelously, had hugged her waist just enough to make Edward’s throat go dry - but nothing could beat that look she had in her eyes; when she had walked to him slowly, her dress flowing behind her; when she had held his hands, when they exchanged rings and promises, and when they kissed… Her eyes, as blue as sapphires, had shone with a beauty, a _radiance_ he had never seen before. It felt like something entirely different; was it hope? Was it happiness? Was it purely love?

“Judging by the way you’re blushing right now,” Al began, breaking his sudden state of reverie, “I’d guess you’re imagining Winry in her wedding dress, hm?”

Edward stuttered. “ _W-well_ , I-uh- w-what do you _mean-_ ”

“I’ll take that as a _yes_ , then!”

“ _Argh!_ ” Edward groaned, heaving himself beside his little brother.

“Y’can’t blame me, can you?” he muttered to himself - but being the little brother he was, Al caught it.

“Never said I did,” he sang.

The two siblings fell back in silence again, as they stared at the bonfire before them, burning and crackling away. After the marriage rituals, it was a custom to commemorate the beginning of something new - like a _family_ , in their case - by enjoining around a big fire, and singing and dancing the night away.  
As the fire burnt on into a roaring monstrosity, up into the blackness of the night sky, it seemed as if the people laughed and danced a little harder, with a bit more happiness. Seeing them all, singing, dancing, _living_ like that, with big smiles on their faces, it made Edward smirk as well; Resembool was a small place, with sparse any people. But when it came to festivities, when it came to celebrating the beginning of something _new_ , nobody was as great as them.

Alphonse hummed along to a tune everyone was singing, taking a sip of his drink. After a while, he sighed. He said, “It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Hm?” asked Edward.

“It feels as if… as if only yesterday we had promised to get our bodies back, to change everything, to set everything straight, and now…?”

“And now, here we are,” Ed completed for him.

Al laughed. “Here _you_ are, getting married to Winry,” he teased.

He rolled his eyes in reply, saying instead, “Well, to be honest, I didn’t think we’d even live to see this day.”

“I know... And the fact that we’re alive right now, that we made it, after all that we have been through… It makes you wanna cherish this new beginning, right?”

“And not screw it up, this time?”

Al shoved his brother playfully, “Yeah, definitely. So you promise, right?”

Ed raised an eyebrow. “Promise what?”

Al smiled - a smile Edward once believed he’d never see again. “Promise me that you’ll make the most of this beginning,” he said, holding out a hand, “That you’ll live on, and make your new life count.”

Edward grabbed his hand without the slightest bit of hesitance. He shook on it, with a determination he once held when he witnessed the ashes of burnt wood and wasted memories rain over him one eventful night; he committed himself to that promise, the same way he once did when he looked over what remains that were left of his sanctuary - nothing but a big pile of fuming ash, ashes that once made a home.

“I’m a man of my word,” he said, “You know that.”

Alphonse nodded, returning his stare at the fire again. Moments lapsed on in silence again, as Edward sighed through his nose, staring at the sky. Sooty smoke clouded the stars he’d seen since he was small. If he squinted, he could just make out where each star existed; many nights he and Alphonse used to spend with their mother, stargazing until the night broke to reveal day. The memory made him smile, even when he felt a stab of nostalgia at his heart.

Will he be able to do that… with his new family?

“So where is Winry?” Al asked, breaking his reverie again.

Ed paused for a nervous moment. “She said that s-she had to go to the bathroom,” he muttered.

Al squinted at him. “And _when_ did she say that?”

“A-about an hour ago - maybe more…”

No matter how much Edward tried resisting the urge to meet his brother’s gaze, he couldn’t help but cringe. And Al didn’t make it any easier for him - he only squinted at him harder. _Damn, he was persistent_.

Of course, Ed lost in the end: “ _What?!_ ” he cried out.

“Are you _serious_ , Brother?”

“W-well, see, the thing is that she was so quiet for so long, I thought she needed some space!”

“It almost feels as if you’re still  _afraid_ of her!”

“Hey, it’s not _that_!” Ed countered, “I - I just don’t know what to say to her!”

“Well, Brother, you have to say _something_. Jeez, I mean, you’re married now!”

Instead of going into an angry fit like he’d normally do, he just sighed. Bowing his gaze, he stared at the metal band wrapped around his ring finger, tracing it with his nail softly. _Well, I am married now,_ he thought.

He heard his little brother sigh again. “Go to her,” he said softly, “She’d like that.”

Giving the stars above him one last look, Edward got up.

“Thanks, Al,” he said, ruffling his hair up. Al laughed back, swatting his arm away.

With that, Edward tried finding her. She was nowhere to be seen around the plains, where everyone had been. Her bridesmaids hadn’t seen her, and nor did anyone else. He could already feel sweat bordering his brow at the thought of losing her already, and quite _literally_ \- it hadn’t even been a whole day, yet!

Running a hand through his bangs, he looked around himself. Soon, his trek had taken him down a dirt road - the same dirt road, down which he had begun his treacherous journey, and up which he ended it.

A soft wind sighed through the plains, making him shiver. He glanced around himself again. As he squinted to his right, he saw slabs of stone - it was the graveyard; he could make out the pale tombstones jutting out of the earth, glinting under the moonlight - silent, serene, sad. He would have totally overlooked it, if it were not for the slightest of flutters of white against darkness.

He saw the flutter again - of a fine cloth, as white as milk…

_Winry?_

_What is she doing there?_ he thought, until he realized-

_Oh._

His shoulders slumped. With his hands dug in his pockets, he walked towards the graveyard slowly. Tombstones went past him one after the other. Some were unfamiliar, their clean and spotless tombstones new, while most of them reminded him of many of the humble inhabitants he had known once, their tombstones old, close to crumbling, and covered with lichen in most places.

By the time he reached the heart of the graveyard, he spotted her. There she was, sitting in front of a pair of identical tombstones, her dress bunched around her. The bouquet of white lilies she carried laid still and limp in her lap, as she clung to them halfheartedly, almost forgotten.

Edward stopped walking any closer. He had to make sure if she was okay, but he couldn’t invade her privacy too suddenly, not when she still had spells where grief would make her stop functioning.

But he had to try; softly, he called out, “Winry?”

He waited. Waited a bit more - until she nodded, ever so slightly.

The grass crunched beneath his shoes as he walked forward. Within a few paces, he could read the two tombstones clearly:

One read, “ _Sara Rockbell - 1879-1908_.” “ _Yuriy Rockbell - 1873-1908_ ” read the other.

He sighed at the sight. If they had been alive, he wouldn’t be able to fathom how happy Winry would have been then, seeing her parents at her own wedding. It was the one thing Edward wanted her to have; happiness. But how could _he_ do that?

He banished the thought quickly, instead sitting behind her.

 _I should really do something_ , he thought to himself. But for a blasted moment, all logical thinking left his mind when he noticed how _close_ he was to her -  enough to be able to see her shoulders move slowly, as she breathed. It was enough to notice how her hair smelled like lilies, and how the moon struck her pale skin just so-

Before he could think any further, Winry leaned back a little. Instinctively, he opened his legs a little, and held his arms even wider. Without hesitance, she scooted in between his legs, leaning her back against his chest.

It took all his will power to not burn up right there. The proximity at which they sat, with not even a breath’s distance made Edward’s breath hitch. But over everything else, he had to soothe her, he had to be there for her. So, slowly, he wrapped his arms around hers, hugging her to himself closer. He nudged her temple with his cheek, letting her take her time to accept his presence, letting her take her time to heal. It was in their vows - to be there for each other, in sickness and in health. And if anything, he was a man of his word.

Moments that felt like a lifetime slipped by in silence, the two of them just basking in each other’s presence. Edward’s bigger hands started playing with Winry’s delicate ones. Despite how slim, how pretty her hands were, they still felt callused at their tips - a result of the endless times she had to take care of his auto-mail. He smiled to the thought; it was one of the many ways how they conversed, how they bonded with each other - and also how he realized the fact that he was madly in love with her.

Suddenly, he heard someone say:

“Mom and Dad used to love talking to me, about my wedding. I remember it, when I was a little girl…”

It was Winry; her voice felt so thin, so fragile, it made his heart clench in his chest. Automatically, he held her hands tightly in his own - it was then that he realized that she was trembling.

But she continued: “Mom used to tell me how she’d make my hair, and describe the dresses she’d make for me - ‘ _you’ll have to look like an angel_ ’, she used to say. And - and Dad… He promised me that he’d be the one to walk me up the aisle, and he even said he’d try not to cry.”  
She laughed a little. “Being the little girl I was, I’d just try avoiding it. But even then… they promised. They _promised_ , Ed.”

By then, she began shaking more, her voice trembling. Instantly, Edward hugged her waist, trying to melt all of her sadness away with just a few hugs, a few kisses. _Oh, if only it would be that easy_.

Winry continued: “I know I’m being unreasonable right now, b-but- but… but I’d like them here. I’d like them to be here, to see us get married, Ed. And now… And now, I’m not even sure if they’re here, if- if they can see me, if they even _exist_ …”

Tears never fell from her eyes, but even then it was enough for Edward to know that she was indeed hurting. He had to do something - after what he had seen years ago, he could never see her crying again. He could not let that happen.

“Sh, Winry, please don’t say you’re being unreasonable… They're always here, with us...” he soothed her, brushing away her bangs away from her forehead with his fingers.

“But _where_ , Ed?" she snapped. After a pause, she sniffled, as she said, her lower lip quivering, "I'm so sorry, I just- I just want to know if they’re here - if they can see me here… if they even…”  
She never completed herself; she just bowed her head, hiding her face behind her palms.

Edward never let go of her; he held her waist tight, kissing the top of her head as much as he could - but even he knew it wouldn’t be enough. He had to console her, he had to give her some hope - but how?

Out of desperation, he looked up at the sky. There, where the smoke couldn’t touch the sky, he could see the starry sky clearly; they twinkled at them brightly, against a black background. One could see how hollow the night sky looked, so daunting, in a way - yet, it looked beautiful.

He recalled something his mother told him and Al once; of how people’s loved ones went on to live among the stars, whenever they’d pass away in their world. That way, she always told them how their loved ones never left them, not truly - “One should always remember to look up, is all!” was what she used to say.

Instantly, an idea came in his mind.

As soon as Winry stopped shaking, he took his hand, and held her wrist. Gently, he pried her hands off her face. She was about to ask something, until he cut in:

“How about you see for yourself, Win?” he asked. He placed a finger on her chin, and tilted her face up - up towards the sky.

She paused. And then she gasped; maybe then she had truly noticed how many stars there were, in the night sky. Maybe then, she understood the comfort it could bring someone. Maybe she understood the one thing his mother taught him - that your loved ones never leave you, not truly. Never truly.

The moonlight caught the ring on her finger, and as soon as Edward saw it, he smiled despite himself; to think they’d end up marrying one day… He couldn’t help but entwining his fingers around hers, squeezing them tight.

“They’re... they're  _smiling_ ,” she whispered.

When the moonlight caught wetness on her skin, he realized that she was crying.

“W-winry? What happened-”

But she just _laughed_ , as more tears streamed down her face. “Ed, they’re _smiling_ at me - my parents. Look yourself.”

Edward glanced at the stars himself, as Winry said:

“Look how bright they’re shining. Just like their smiles…”

 _Yeah,_ he thought, grinning, _just like their smiles._

After a while, he looked back at her. She wasn’t crying anymore. He wiped away the stray tears that did cling to her cheeks, hugging her tight again. Soon, he could feel how she didn’t shiver anymore; how she grew warm and strong again - just like the Winry he first fell in love with.

Soon, she got up on her feet. Scrambling up himself, he stood beside her. She still looked at the stars, with a smile that radiated happiness. And in that moment, he could feel his own heart swell - with happiness, and with pride; that he did that, that he helped in making her happy.

Suddenly, he felt a hand wrap around his right one. When he looked down, he saw that Winry had wrapped her fingers around his, clinging to them tightly. He glanced at her - and his heart hitched in his chest; there was that look again. That same look he had seen during their marriage rituals, right before they had kissed. God, that look… he could do anything to just wrap it up and keep it to himself, just for himself.

Right then, he finally understood what that look meant. The realization made his heart swell even more.

Quite _suddenly_ , she flung herself at him, kissing the living daylights out of him. He stumbled a little, before wrapping his arms around her waist tight, holding her close, and safe. He tilted his face, and kissed her back, wanting to make her feel special, loved - _happy_ , most of all. When he felt her arms tighten around his neck, and her smile press against his lips, he _knew_ \- he knew he did just that.

After what felt like forever, they broke apart, their foreheads pressed against one another's.

Before even a pause for any breath, she blurted out: “I love you.”

Ed smiled when he replied, “I love you.” He grinned when he realized how much he meant those words.

She bit her lip, and tried hiding a cheeky smile, but failed. But he didn’t mind at all - in fact, the little blush she sported made the whole moment even better; it reminded him of the first time they ever decided to be together, in that train station, when what she had blurted out had made him soar.

 _“Half? I’ll give you all of me!”_ she had said. God, the thought still made his heart beat ten times faster with joy.

After a while, a gust of wind blew through the graveyard. Winry shivered at it, goose-pimples breaking out over her skin. Without any other thought, Edward shook his own jacket off, and hung it over her bare shoulders.

She poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue playfully. “Aw, why, aren’t you a _gentleman!_ ”

He rolled his eyes. “Ah, well, a husband’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.”

Winry laughed at that, before poking her elbow right in his ribs. They shared a laugh there, before heading on back to where their guests waited.

On the way back, she had held her bouquet in one hand, and held his hand tight in her other one. He didn’t know anything else that felt better than that.

What felt even more _euphoric_ was what she said afterwards:

“Ed…?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you… you’re- you’re definitely the one for me…”

Edward tried not to cry out in happiness. He tried not to literally fly away, with how light his heart felt. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and hugged her, kissing the top of her head as many times as he could - as many times as he wanted to.

The night went on even when they came back. When the married couple did appear, the guests urged them to dance before them first. So, they had to dance - nervously, at first. But then two more came, then three, then five - until every kind of guest filled themselves wherever they could, and danced as if the world was to end. Ed and Winry soon started dancing more confidently, not giving the slightest bit of care of who would be watching them, who would be judging them - they couldn’t bring themselves to care.  
He couldn’t bring himself to care; not when Winry danced like that, not when her beautiful laugh cut through every other sound, not when she smiled as if she had gotten the entire world for herself. Right then, when he had picked her up, and twirled her in the air, he had promised himself, that he’d make their beginning matter; that he’d make it matter by caring for Winry. He promised he’d do whatever he could to hold her when she’d break, care for her when she couldn’t do it herself, and love her whenever he could. He’d do everything he could to make her laugh so much she’d end up crying tears of pure joy. He’d do everything in his power to be able to make her smile, the way she did then - it was all she deserved.

And he was a man of his word.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time doing anything other than jeanmarco in a loong while, so let me know how i did! Comment if u can; they make my day!  
> OK NOW I'LL STOP AVOIDING MY RESPONSIBILITIES AND WORK ON TSO so see u guys then!~ Thankyou for stopping by and reading! <3


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